Have we been saying chicken kiev WRONG? Masterchef viewers are baffled by pronunciation of the Ukrainian dish

By Melody Fletcher For Mailonline

Published: 15:13 GMT, 29 December 2023 | Updated: 15:17 GMT, 29 December 2023

Celebrity Masterchef viewers descended into a flurry of debate on Thursday as they questioned the debate of one dish that’s been a Ukranian staple.

In a one-off Christmas Special, viewers saw four food critics go head-to-head with dishes to win over the judges.

In the kitchen was Leyla Kazim, William Sitwell, Jimi Famurewa and Jay Rayner, with the latter eventually crowned the winner.

But it was another contestant that left some fans scratching their heads, as they questioned the pronunciation of his chosen dish.

During the segment, William Sitwell delivered a homemade Chicken Kiev, but the dish was repeatedly pronounced as ‘Chicken Kyiv.’

Celebrity Masterchef viewers descended into a flurry of debate on Thursday as they questioned the debate of one dish that’s been a Ukranian staple

During the show, William Sitwell delivered a homemade Chicken Kiev , but the dish was repeatedly pronounced as ‘Chicken Kyiv’

The pronounciation, which has been re-adopted by Ukranians following the country’s invasion by Russia in February 2022, caught many viewers off-guard.

One posted: ‘WTH… have I been saying it wrong all thes years???,’ and another shared: ‘#masterchef we all been calling it wrong should be chick keev not chicken kieyev.’

A third posted: ‘So, are there any other obviously uncultured souls out there, who still pronounce it chicken kiev, rather than chicken keeev?’

‘I’ve just learned I’ve been pronouncing chicken Kiev wrong,’ one added.

‘Kiev’ was the standardised spelling for the city under Soviet rule, but recent Russian aggression has seen more Western institutions heed calls to abandon it in favour of the Ukrainian alternative. 

And after the invasion began last year, many shoppers called for supermarkets to rename the dish as chicken kviv.

Scott Clarke agreed, asking Marks & Spencers if they could make the change ‘as a small gesture of solidarity to our Ukrainian friends’.

The UK Government has been referring to its embassy as being based in ‘Kyiv’ for years, with an Internet archive showing this had been the case until records began in 2014. 

The pronounciation, which has been re-adopted by Ukranians following the country’s invasion by Russia in February 2022, caught many viewers off-guard

Ukraine’s capital is known as Київ in Ukrainian and Киев in Russian. Both terms do not have a direct translation into the Roman alphabet, with Kiev, Kyiv, Kyyiv or Kiyev all being possibilities.

But the spelling ‘Kiev’ is intrinsically linked with the old USSR due to its widespread use by the British and Americans while the city was under Soviet rule.

This continued after independence in 1991, until ‘Kyiv’ was legally approved by the Ukrainian government.

It was not until the Maidan uprising of 2014 the issue hit the public consciousness, with the ousting of pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych and the creation of a new administration seeking closer ties to the West.

Young Ukrainians see ‘Kiev’ as a relic of the Soviet past, and this view is now shared by the government, which launched a ‘KyivNotKiev’ campaign in 2018.

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Have we been saying chicken kiev WRONG? Masterchef viewers are baffled by pronunciation of the Ukrainian dish

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